Chapter 12 - THE TRUTH EVELYN HAD BURIEDAgent Bennett took us to a secure location outside Atlanta.
The estate was searched.
Douglas was arrested.
Ethan disappeared.
Gertrude disappeared.
Christopher stayed beside me.
Garrett underwent surgery for his shoulder.
When he woke, Evelyn was sitting beside his bed.
He looked at her.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You watched them drug me.”
“I tried to stop them.”
“You failed.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I know.”
Garrett turned away.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Evelyn remained silent.
I entered the room.
She looked at me.
“I owe you the truth.”
I sat down.
She took a breath.
“Your father and I worked together.”
I stared.
“On the investigation?”
“Yes.”
“He knew you?”
“He trusted me.”
“Then why did he hide it?”
“Because the day he discovered the trust, he realized I was being watched.”
“What trust?”
“The one that made you the legal owner of the controlling shares.”
I looked at Garrett.
He nodded.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father transferred the shares to a protected trust in your name.”
“Why me?”
“Because he believed Garrett would eventually become the target.”
Garrett frowned.
“He was right.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because the trust could only be activated when two conditions were met.”
“What conditions?”
“Your father had to die.”
My breath caught.
“And Garrett had to be declared permanently disabled.”
The room went silent.
Garrett understood.
“The accident.”
“Yes.”
“The paralysis.”
“Yes.”
“They needed me in the wheelchair.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Because the trust would then transfer control.”
“To Rebecca.”
“Yes.”
I looked at my hands.
Twelve years.
Twelve years with Christopher.
Three years caring for my father.
And all this time, I had unknowingly been at the center of a corporate war.
“Why did Christopher marry me?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“He was instructed to find the trust.”
“And Brenda?”
“She was sent to monitor him.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It wasn't supposed to.”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“Christopher fell in love with you.”
I looked away.
“Love didn't save our marriage.”
“No.”
“It destroyed it.”
“Perhaps.”
Then Evelyn handed me an envelope.
“Your father left this for you.”
I opened it.
His handwriting.
My eyes blurred.
Rebecca,
If you're reading this, you survived.
I need you to know one thing. None of this was your fault.
I chose you because you were stronger than anyone they could have hired.
You learned to care for the vulnerable without becoming vulnerable yourself.
If Garrett survives, trust him.
If he dies, trust no one.
I looked at Garrett.
He was watching me.
The final line chilled me.
And whatever happens, never trust Christopher completely.
I slowly looked up.
Christopher stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
His face changed.
“Rebecca.”
I folded the letter.
“What did my father know about you?”
Christopher stared at me.
“I don't know.”
“That's a lie.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I made mistakes.”
“What mistakes?”
He looked at Garrett.
Then at me.
“I knew about the trust.”
My heart stopped.
“You knew?”
“I discovered it after we got married.”
“And you stayed.”
“Yes.”
“For the money?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
He whispered:
“Because by then, someone had already decided you wouldn't live long enough to inherit it.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
Christopher shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face went white.
“What?”
A pause.
Then he whispered:
“Brenda?”
He hung up.
I stared at him.
“What happened?”
Christopher looked at me.
May you like
“She said Ethan has your father.”
My blood turned to ice.
